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PRAYING
IN THE SPIRIT SERIES
CRITICAL UNITY IN CORPORATE PRAYER FOR CRITICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
In corporate prayer what is most important
is unity. Corporate prayer is not just a group of people. Corporate prayer is
not getting every Tom, Dick or Harry to pray together. It is better to have
only two persons praying together if they are united than to have many people
praying together if they are not united. It is not a case of the more the
merrier. English proverbs always have contrasts. They say wise men think alike
but fools seldom defer. And when people are the same, you don't know which one
to apply. They also say the more the merrier but then it takes two to make a
quarrel. So we realize that it is not just a matter of getting people to pray
together that we can have what we so call corporate prayer. The important
essence of corporate prayer is unity.
There are two areas of unity that we want to
emphasize on. And that is unity of heart and unity of soul or mind in a general
sense. The moment you are born again,
you are one spirit with the Lord. So there is a union in the spirit because all
our spirits are born again. But yet the problem is the union
of the heart and the mind. Any Christian who has been in the
We could work separately with the same
goal and bless the Lord's name. But if there is such a contrast or principle,
there is no unity of minds. See principles produce methods. So when there are
different understandings of principles, there will be different methods. That
being the case we can be one in the spirit. We can disagree without being
disagreeable. But working together we need similar concepts, similarity of
principles, and similarity of understanding to a certain extent. We may not
require total understanding. At least we would say a general understanding and
likeness that is required to work together. We can be one in the spirit with
somebody without working together. And we realize that there are so many
hundreds and thousands of methods that people apply to the same goal.
We are talking about unity in prayer. We
require a unity in heart and in mind or in soul. Those are very important. You
could do far more with one person who could agree with you in spirit, soul and
mind than with five people who partially go with you. And that is why a
marriage relationship is very precious. There is no greater unity than that
which a husband and wife can achieve in the Lord. And your life partner should
be your best friend. We need to understand unity and be able to flow with it.
Before we look at that we want to see
first the negative aspects. Then we will see the positive aspects. Lets look at the
And because of that they did the next
thing in Genesis 11: 3 They said to one
another. Notice three things have already happened. They have one language.
They have one speech and now they are saying the same thing. And that is in the
negative side. When they started doing all these things they went to fourth
thing, they began to do the same thing. They all had one shared vision. They
worked towards that goal. They had one language, one speech,
they shared with one another, and number four they worked at it. They put their
hearts, their energy to make bricks to build this tower. God made this
statement when He saw them in Genesis 11: 6 And the Lord said, "Indeed
the people are one and they all had one language, and this is what they begin
to do; now there is nothing that they propose to do will be with held from them.
God made this observation. Now these people are not even talking about the
things of God. They are talking about building their own glory and their own
project and they are not even asking for God's help. Man was made in His image
although when he fell much of that image was not full in perfection. Yet if men
were to get together, they had the inherent ability to achieve a tremendous
project.
For example, it took thousands of
scientists and engineers each one concentrating on different parts to just get
those three astronauts to the moon. So its important
for us here to see that there is as truth in what God says. There is a
tremendous potential if human beings can be brought together to have that one
concept. Sometimes it takes one man, one woman, one boy with a vision in their
hearts to change their generation. If you examine it very carefully, how it
happens is because one person held to the vision strong enough until that same
vision began to catch hold in the lives and hearts of the people. But the fulfillment
of that vision still takes a corporate work and not an individual work. How it
actually happen is still a release of the corporate move of the people of God.
God recognize the potential of unregenerate
man. And God recognized this fact in Gen.6: 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and the every intent of the thought of his heart
was only evil continually. God destroyed the earth and judged the earth in
Noah's time. Not because of man's work alone. That was included. He destroyed
man because He saw what was in man's heart. He saw what could have happened
because He could read our thoughts and He knows what was in the hearts of men.
And if He doesn't bring judgment on the evil that was already sown in the heart
of man, the evil is going to be multiplied. See God saw that human beings with
such evil intention in their heart were so powerful He knew He had to destroy
man before it gets horrible. That is how much God believe in the vision in
man's heart. He believes that if a vision is in man's heart man will achieve
it, whether for evil or for good. God had made man with the potential to
function in that realm.
If that was so powerful in the negative,
on the positive side we see that if we can get a group of people to have the
same vision implanted in our hearts to see the same vision, there will be a
tremendous creative power that can be released. Acts chapter four describes the
unity that the church has. Acts 4:32 Now the
multitude of those who believe were of one heart, in one soul. Neither did
anyone say that any of the things they possess was his own. But they had all
things in common. See when you have one heart, one soul it affects your
physical realm. I like what the word says one heart and one soul. What
is the unity of the heart?
If
we were to ask you this question for you to consider, it may puzzle you for
some time. Which comes first or which affects which? Do our motives affect our
thoughts or does our thoughts affect our motives. What
are motives? Motives are the intents of the heart. The heart is where your
motivation is. Sounds like the chicken and the egg question. That was settled
long ago in the bible. God didn't make the egg. God made the chicken. So the
bible settled the question.
Let me throw in one more verse. Heb 4:12 The
word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edge sword piercing
even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and it’s a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There are lots of clues
here. Do our motives affect the thoughts or do our thoughts affect our motives?
If my motive is for evil, I begin to plan evil. If a person is greedy and
selfish, his thought life is influenced and since then that becomes the goal of
his life. Every one of his thoughts begins to move towards that direction of
their motives. Every one of us has a motivation in life. Whether your
motivation is selfish or generous or born of God or born of the flesh, your motives
cause you to continue to live. Because we are motivated we have a goal and we
have a desire. And those desires come from your motivation. If you continue to
allow certain thoughts to surround you, sooner or later those thoughts will
build a desire into your life. And they become part of your motivation.
So
what then is the answer? There are two parts to what we are talking about.
There is a stage where our motivation begins to affect our thoughts. But there
is a part where our motivation is birthed from the input that we have. If you
examine a little child growing up, a lot of the child's motivation comes from
their surroundings. Most children like to take off after what they see around
them. If you ask a little child what she would like to be when she grows up.
Her uncle has been a medical doctor, auntie has been a medical officer, father has been a medical professor, so the little child
says she wants to be a doctor. Medical people surround her and hence her
motivation was built from that influence.
There are two stages here. The first is
the input. The second is the output. Before you can use a computer, you have to
program it first. If you buy a computer without the soft ware its virtually
useless. If you have a very powerful computer and all you have is a very humble
soft ware, it doesn't tap on the power of the computer. It is still virtually
useless. So you have to program the computer first with a soft ware. Then after
that you can make use of it to do a lot of other things. There must be an input
into the computer first before we can use it for output. So in that sense there
is a stage where there is an input into our lives that causes us to have the
right motivation.
That is why after teaching the Word of God
according to Heb. 4: 12, the Word cuts people who has wrong motivations. It
examines the thoughts and motivations of the heart. If it is not holy and not
born of God it will expose it. And in the light of God's presence when our
motivation is exposed and we are sincere before God we repent. Like David we
say search me O God and know my heart. He is asking God to search his motives.
So the word of God has a very penetrating force in our motives. It seems that
only the word of the Living God has the power to change man's motivation. Conviction
comes and it is born of the Holy Spirit. And here it says the word of God is so
powerful that it can change our very motivation. Having seen
that it is important for us to see here that when the bible talks about being
of one heart, it implies that our motivations are one.
Sometimes when you gather ten people
together and you have four or five with other reasons for gathering, the
motivation for gathering is not the same. You will not be able to release the
power that they release in Acts chapter four. It says they were of one heart.
To be of one heart implies that we all have the same motivation. When people
with the same motives that are born of the Spirit get together, it is very
powerful.
See the mind is able to function after the
motivation is input into us. A person who tells himself that he will never be
able to buy that apartment will come out with about one hundred reasons why he
cannot buy it. When a person begin to see God's word and realize that there is
a possibility and says he is able to do it, his mind is adjusted to the
positive side and will find one hundred ways to raise money to buy it. So in
other words the mind becomes subservient to the things of God, the things of
the Spirit. It is so important to keep out mind in the positive stream.
Every time your mind is in the negative
stream, you block out creative ideas. You block out the flow of God in your
life. Every time the mind says no, no, it cannot be done, you block out the
creative flow of God's Spirit. So we must keep our mind in the positive flow of
God's Spirit all the time. When God's word has touched our lives and cleansed
and purified our motives and we all have the same mind and same motivation in
God and pray together, we will find a way to do it. But if we have ten and four
of them say we can and six of them say we cannot, you will never be able to
work it out. In the first place part of the discussion will be a debate.
So it is important for us to tap upon the
corporate anointing and the corporate flow of God. Now when it comes to prayer,
we must have motivation and number two the heart is the place where the vision
is written. The heart is the place where the seed of God's vision is planted.
Your "dianoia" is a part of your
mind that conceives pictures. And dianoia is
always related to the heart. When Jesus says you shall love the Lord thy God
with all your heart and all your mind, He uses the
word dianoia. The book of Hebrews
chapter eight and chapter ten says He shall write His laws in our hearts and in
our minds. It uses the word dianoia.
That means here in Acts four when the
church gathered together and they were of one heart, it means that they have
one motive to glorify the Lord and to pray through. Number two when they have
one heart they came together with one vision. Their vision is to see the glory
of God take place and revive what they were going through. They were in the
midst of persecution in Acts four. The storm of persecution has risen and they
desired only to glorify God. And here the vision has already been implanted in
their hearts. They are one heart in the Lord with one vision and have the same
motives.
Some times you have people who see the same
vision but have different motives. There is no unity of heart yet. Ten fellows
looking at the same thing and each one thinking what can I get out of it. If you ten guys up there, four of them is to glorify God and six of them are thinking that they
will look nice up there, you will not be able to tap on what the bible says
about unity. Although they may be all singing in unity, there is a different
harmony flowing in the heart. We cannot detect it physically but God detect it
up there. Only God's Spirit can examine our hearts. So some times people have
the same vision but they don't have the same motive. On the other hand some
times people have the same motives but their visions are not exactly the same.
You also cannot be of one heart.
Jesus said in Matt. 18: 19 that if two
of you agree on earth as touching anything, it shall be done for them on earth as
it is in heaven. That's powerful. The word agree
which is the word we use in English for symphony. In the natural symphony you
must have all the instruments playing in tune and rhythm and melody. In the
spiritual symphony you need those instruments playing in the same motivation
and in the same vision. When it says that they were of one heart it mean one in
motive and one in vision.
When it says that they were of one soul in
the Lord, it involves the three areas of the soul, namely the will, the emotions
and the intellect. The will means that they choose. Some times you could have
people with the same motives, with the same vision but they make a different
choice. To obey or not to obey is an act of our will. And the same thing affects emotions. They
begin to feel one together. The intellect comes later. When you have already
set your heart on something and you know it can be done, the intellect begins
to operate. If you can get ten people who have the same motivation and the same
vision, their intellect begins to open up to God. God begins to implant into
them the vision to say how it can be done. The beautiful thing is that if you
really have such a unity, each one of the then will receive a small part of the
whole picture. When they put together it becomes a whole like a jigsaw puzzle.
God does not just reveal to one. He will reveal this angle to this person and
that angle to that person.
The bible says in Ps.133 it says here
behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.
It like a precious oil upon the head running down on
the beard the beard of Aaron running down on the edge of his garments. It is
like the dew of Hermon descending upon the
If you really have a situation you got to
pray through. If you could find somebody who could agree in the heart and in
mind whatever problem you are facing. If you could find just one more person
who could hold your hand together and see the same vision and see the same
breakthrough and you pray through, you would release a powerful force that the
devil cannot handle. If one believer moves into the full authority of Jesus,
the devil is already having a hard time. The wonderful thing is that one plus
one is not equal to two in the spirit world. The bible says one shall chase a
thousand, two shall chase ten thousands. It is a multiplication and not an
addition of one plus one. Can you imagine why the devil gets so frightened when
Christians get united. Because the amount of anointing
that is released is so powerful that he cannot handle it. Its
like an atomic bomb compare to conventional dynamic and TNT ordinary bomb. That
kind of bomb is considered a tiny one in today's term. Today's bomb is hundred
times more powerful than that. So its getting united together is the difference
of whether we want to fight the devil with our small hand grenade or you want
to fight the devil with atomic weapons. Its important for us when we gather
together to be able to get into that mind set I call it of the heart and the
mind.
When Jesus moved in His ministry He is
aware of this type of thing. Jesus required the atmosphere of unity. One doubt
is enough to spoil the whole show. In Mark 5: 36 Jesus was on His way to Jairus house. When He reached Jairus house as soon as Jairus
heard the word that was spoken. He said to the ruler of the synagogue do
not be afraid only believe. And He permitted no one to follow him except Peter,
James and John. Why did He do that? See Jesus needed that oneness. Jesus'
disciples were divided into two categories - the inner circle and the outer
circle. Why He did it is more in line with who could harmonize more with Him.
You may not observe in Jesus life: in His most critical times or in His biggest
battles He always make sure He has only the inner circle. The others may spoil
the whole thing. Here is a critical time here because the people there around
had unbelief. When Jairus saw these people, the first
thing they said she is dead. And in fact while you were gone we have arranged a
funeral service. The funeral service was in process. The mourners were at their
climax. How do we know because the moment Jesus said in Mark 8: 39 she is just
sleeping, the very next verse in verse 40 they started to laugh.
I mean there was such unbelief. They were not just laughing; they were scorning
Him. In the presence of such unbelief normally you could not do a miracle.
Normally the anointing will be affected. You say brother how can the anointing
be affected? There are some circumstances where it is affected.
Let me give some more scriptures. Second
Kings 3: 13-14Elisha came. There were three kings there. The king of
Now
in Jesus life there are times when He faced unbelief so thick that He did not
do anything except a few healing here and there. In Mark 6 you read about how He
went to His hometown and the unbelief was so thick, Jesus just didn't do any
miracle. Unbelief and faith are things you could feel. You could feel it right
there in the spiritual atmosphere. You could sense whether the atmosphere in a
meeting is thick with unbelief or thick with faith. Sometimes you need extra
reinforcement. I notice that in Jesus' life at critical times He will pull
those who are closer. See there seems to be a degree of unity. There degrees of
motivations and degrees of vision. Some are blurred and some are clearer. And
the clarity of each brings the greater unity to the vision.
Although Peter, James and John may not be
perfect but they seems to have a greater understanding of something. They were
more united than the others. Peter, James, John and Andrew were once upon a
time business partners together. The bible says they were partners and
fisherman together. They must have been together for many years. They had a
link. Now they bring that back into the spiritual realm and they were able to
function together.
In John 14 Philip ask a question how can they see the Father. But Peter James and John seem to
have a greater understanding and a greater union with the Lord. And so here is
a critical time in Mark 5 that He just brought Peter, James and John in and
they chased every body out. In verse forty when He had put them all out, then
only He performed that miracle. For it is like oil running down the beard of
Aaron. That is the anointing on the beard of Aaron. It’s the anointing that can
flow with that kind of unity.
Let me show the other critical times. In
the book of Mark 9: 2 says that after six days Jesus took Peter, James and
John and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves and He was
transfigured before them. Now the rest were down the mountain. Only Peter,
James and John went up to the mountain. Remember the transfiguration did not happened automatically. It happened because Jesus broke
through in prayer.
In
the gospel of Luke 9: it says and it came to pass about eight days after His
saying that He took Peter, John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
And as He prayed the appearance of His face was altered and His robe became
white and glistening. I had a glimpse of what it was like. What Jesus was
going to experience and what the Father was going to show forth was going to
take place only as He prayed. If He had tried to pray through with the other
nine fellows around it may hinder His prayer. At least these three were quite
united to a certain extent although they were not perfect. And He could
concentrate on praying. And it was when He broke through in His prayers that
the transfiguration took place.
For
example when you gather to pray do you notice sometimes it is a hard atmosphere
to pray through. Sometimes you find it easy to just pray. There are two causes
and one cause is demonic pressure. Demonic pressure can only come through human
vessels. Demons by themselves are virtually powerless. To exercise any form of
authority in this world they need to work through human vessels. The second
point is very important. What you feel sometimes is the atmosphere is so thick
with unbelief, strife and disunity you got to pray through until the unity flow
forth. The first part of the prayer you get united. The final part is only
breaking through. But if you have a normal relationship with God as healthy,
you could just pray alone by yourself and you find you could pray through. But
when you get into the group filled with unbelief and doubt, the group has to
really pray through. Worship meetings are even worse. If people there are just
singing, their motivations are different. You try to worship the Lord it is far
easier if you go into your closet hide yourself there and worship the Lord than
it is to get into a public meeting and try to get through. When Jesus want to
pray through to something, He makes sure He leaves all the stragglers behind
and He went on with those whom He knows He could harmonize with.
Here is another critical time in His life in
the gospel of Mark 14: Then they came to a place, which was named
Turn with me to Hebrews 5: 7 For in the days of flesh when He offered up
prayers and supplications with cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him
from death and was heard because of His godly fear. Now it refers to the days
of His flesh but it also refers to that special time that He had at
We should learn to pray with all our
hearts and minds and not wait for such situations. If you are very disciplined, you don't wait for a crisis to come before
you pray. You don't become a desperado Christian. We must learn all kinds of
warfare. We must learn how to pray in crisis. We must learn how to pray in all
kind of situations.
So Jesus has such an
important prayer breakthrough that He needs to make. And He told the nine disciples to stay
there. Then He went with Peter, James
and John and the prayer burden comes heavy on Him. Look at Mark 14: 35 He went
a little further and fell on the ground and prayed if it is possible let the
cup pass from Him. Now here is an interesting point. The eight apostles were
there, then He went further into the
And do you notice that when He walked back
to see these three guys sleeping, He asks these three fellows there to pray
with Him. Now you know why He brought them there? It is because He wanted them
to pray through with Him. They didn't do their part. Jesus said you do extra
work. He had to not only carry Himself; He had to carry them. He told Peter I
have prayed for you. The wonderful fact here He left these three here and He
went. Do you notice He never went all the way back to these eight disciples and
said pray with Me? He could mix and flow with all
these eleven fellows as much as He can. Most of the time all
these fellows were always with Him.
But when it comes to a critical time He
left those guys behind. He takes Peter, James and John. But when it was extra
critical time even Peter, James and John got left there. And He had to go alone
in there. Isn't it sad that the Lord Jesus in His whole life had to fight some
battles alone when many times He would wish that there were others who could do
it with Him. Like in Gethsemane He is
asking the three fellows here to pray with Him.
Peter, James and John did their best. But they couldn't stand it. In
fact when He came back and told them to pray with Him. In Mark14:37 Simon
are you sleeping. Could you not watch one hour. Watch
and pray lest you enter into the temptation. The spirit truly is ready but the
flesh is weak. They did not know what to answer him. They felt ashamed.
Three times He came and ask
them to pray with Him. Why three times? I know why because He was praying and
praying but could not pray through. And He came down hoping these fellows could
help Him breakthrough. They were sleeping. He sensed from His spirit that He
was not getting help from these guys. In the end with the grace of God He had
to pray with such intensity that the blood vessels all over His skin let out
blood. There was such physical intensity that He broke through in the spirit
realm.
Even Jesus in His critical times saw that
there must be an atmosphere of unity. That is a corporate prayer meeting. We do
not encourage people to gather in small groups to go to separate rooms and
pray. The purpose is to lift everybody
up. Its just like all of us are in this boat and we
are all paddling. We are all in one huge ark to be more scriptural and we are
all paddling the ark. Suddenly one hundred fellows stopped paddling and there
are only four of us paddling. Do you
know it would be easier if the four of us were to get into a boat big enough
for just the four of us and we all paddle happily? We will move faster than
these hundred passengers and four workers paddling the ark. Understand the fact
that once you get into a group you either contribute or you don't contribute.
There are no fence sitters. Once you get into the boat you are either a help or
a weight to be carried. It is powerful when we get united and pray into that
realm of the spirit and pray through something.
That is why Jack Hayford
would put people in the four corners of his church when his church prays. And
they all look towards the center and lift up their hands. They form what I call
a spiritual canopy and it makes a difference. It clears the atmosphere and it
helps. So we all need to understand how to unite in prayer together. Jesus says
where two or three are gathered together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them. There are some things that we need corporate
prayer to help us to breakthrough.
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